Sturgill Simpsonbusked for the ACLU outside last night’s Country Music Awards. He also took questions from fans and passersby. When asked what his acceptance speech would be, he said:

Nobody needs a machine gun. Coming from a guy who owns quite a few guns. Gay people should have the right to be happy and live their life any way they want to, and get married if they want to, without fearing getting drug down the road on a pickup truck. Black people are probably tired of getting shot in the streets, and getting enslaved by the industrial prison complex, and hegemony and racism is alive and well in Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you very much.

Im writing this because I want to go on record and say I find it utterly disgusting the way everybody on Music Row is coming up with any reason they can to hitch their wagon to his name while knowing full and damn well what he thought about them. If the ACM wants to actually celebrate the legacy and music of Merle Haggard, they should drop all the formulaic cannon fodder bullshit they’ve been pumping down rural America’s throat for the last 30 years along with all the high school pageantry, meat parade award show bullshit and start dedicating their programs to more actual Country Music.

Sturgill Simpson performance of “Brace for Impact (Live a Little)” on Stephen Colbert can be found on YouTube or by hitting read more. Sturgill and Colbert also teamed up to perform a new Waffle House theme song together.

I’d go out on a limb and say that, lately, country music has been as healthy and vibrant as it has been in years. Whether thanks to buzz-boosting late night TV appearances for up-and-coming artists, extra interest from music publications, or some of the most intriguing CMA and ACM winner lists…ever, country music seems to be worming its way more and more into the consciousness of music listeners everywhere. Fewer people are taking the “I listen to everything but country” stance; more are slowly dipping their toes into the genre’s considerable depths.